Further to circular no. NP/083/17 of 1st June 2017, your union is maintaining the pressure on all politicians through the SOS 2020 campaign. As part of this, on Monday 31st July, we will be marching on the Edinburgh Headquarters of the Scottish Tories, who currently have the second largest number of MSPs in the Holyrood Parliament.

RMT members and activists from all sectors are invited to attend and again highlight this union’s commitment to ending exploitation, job losses and skills shortages in the domestic maritime industry. We need to get the SOS 2020 message across, loud and clear, that profiting from seafarer exploitation must end and that all political parties in Scotland must work to end the shipping industry’s relentless attacks on domestic jobs and collectively bargained terms and conditions.

You are asked to assemble on 31st Julyat 12 noon, outside the WH Smith store in Edinburgh Waverley Rail Station. We will then march to Tory Party Headquarters, 67 Northumberland Street, Edinburgh EH3 6JG. A map is attached and can be downloaded here: https://tinyurl.com/y8plauje

The Scottish Government is currently reviewing its ferry procurement policies and we will let Scottish Conservatives know the depth of support for publicly owned and operated lifeline ferry services, particularly amongst seafarers employed on these ships. The march will be a chance to put pressure on politicians to support exempting public ferry contracts from pro-privatisation EU regulations and for the Scottish Government to, as a minimum, nationalise the NorthLink contract and keep the Gourock-Dunoon contract with public sector provider Argyll Ferries.

I urge members and activists to attend this march in support of domestic seafarers and a growing maritime skills base. I remind you that the cost of attendance is a legitimate form of branch expenditure. Your continued engagement and support for all SOS 2020 campaigning activity, in Scotland and across the UK is essential and appreciated.

I would be grateful if you could bring the contents of this circular to the attention of members in your branch and you will be kept updated with further developments.